The Undesirables
by ass-sassin
Summary: He was the Fire Lord... and she was just his hardy soldier. *Post-Book 3*
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One**_

"Lien-Hua! Is there a Lien-Hua here?" the official called out to the line of wanna-be soldiers.

She stepped forward, her long, dark ponytail blowing slightly in the parched, dry wind. "You're a – a _woman?_"

"Yes," she snapped, her blue eyes narrowing angrily.

The official nervously beckoned to her, leading her inside the entrance to the miniscule – but certainly large – portion of the city that was fenced off for the army barracks. The entrance building was massive – but Lien only knew the bottom level was for a security check before being lead into another complex – most likely one that would gouge her rank in the army.

She followed him in, and was lead to two formally dressed guards, who indicated she was to hand over her bag and extend her arms. With a sigh and a slight narrowing of her eyes, she allowed the guard to pat her down in a hasty, brief manner – he must've seen it just as inappropriate as she had. Once she'd been through security she was shoved through a small crowd to reach yet another line.

She stood on the tips of her toes and tried to spot the table over the heads of the tall men in front of her. Someone from the crowded exit behind her slammed into her back and she staggered forward into the back of a tall stranger. "Sorry!" she apologised after receiving a sharp glare from the dark haired man.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" someone said from behind her, grasping her arm to stop her from falling to the floor.

She hoisted herself up and looked up at him, his light – almost golden brown – hair and all, smiling kindly, "Don't fuss over it, I was expecting something of the like to happen sooner or later!"

He grinned and extended his hand, "I'm Kai."

She took it, smiling in response, "Lien," she said warmly, noting how his tan skin contrasted to her ivory tone.

"What division are you trying out for?" Kai asked as they slowly trudged further down the line.

"The personal guard," Lien replied nonchalantly, still trying to see over the many heads.

"Really?" Kai asked, astonishment splashed across his handsome face, "That's a pretty difficult test to pass just to get _in_ to the training! And then you've got to be chosen from the best after all the training!"

"What?" Lien huffed, spinning to face him, "Are you implying that because I'm a _girl_ I don't have it in me to make it through?"

"No! No, I didn't mean it like that at all! Trust me, I have a niece and she sure can pack a punch!" he replied, laughter in his voice.

"Good!" she laughed good-naturedly, "What sector are you going for?"

"I _was_ going for an instructor, but seeing as you're the only friend I've met… I think I'll try the personal guard!"

Lien groaned internally – more competition for her! There were, after all, only twenty or so members of the personal guard at a time, and the only time there was positions was when a member of the guard lost his skill or died. Nevertheless, she put a smile on her face and clapped him on the back, "Nice to know!"

After a few more moments of the pair trying to see over the heads of the crowd, Kai turned back to her. "So, Lien, where're you from?"

"I come from Shu Jing – it's a small town on one of the outer lying islands," she replied casually, "What about you?"

"Oh, I live in the city – father's a stonemason," Kai told her, "grew up here all my life with my two brothers, but they're both older and married now. Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah," Lien grinned, "An older brother. He joined the personal guard two years ago."

"Oh, so you were the spoilt little princess then?" Kai teased, punching her in the arm lightly.

"Oh yes, my father _certainly_ let me be a little princess…" Lien retorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "Yes, a swords master obviously wanted his only daughter defenceless-"

"Wait, you're father's a swords master?" Kai interrupted excitedly, almost jumping up and down in his sudden childishness.

"Yes," Lien replied, laughing at his silly antics, "he's a teacher, too – and a right good one at that! He could teach a mouse how to fight if he tried!"

"Wait a second! What's your father's na-"

But there was suddenly a projected voice around the crowded outdoor courtyard, "Everyone towards the back of the line, please make your way to the new line in a calm and-"

Lien and Kai exchanged a devious glance, and were off before the announcement was over, along with a whole other throng of agitated soldiers. They laughed as they streaked towards the other end of the courtyard, coming to a stop right at the new table, first in line.

They high fived and turned to face the disgruntled official. "Name?" he asked sourly.

Kai stepped forward, "Kai."

He and the official exchanged a few short words before Kai was ushered through another building. Lien was beckoned closer to the table.

"Name?"

"Lien-Hua."

"Age?"

"Nineteen."

"Bender?"

"No."

"Hometown?"

"Shu Jing."

"Father's profession?"

"Swords master."

"Division?"

"Personal Guard."

The official raised a brow but didn't question her as she was taken through to the same building that Kai had disappeared into not moments earlier. She was taken into a dark, musty room with three walls of steel and one of rock, where five other men were already waiting, Kai included.

"What now?" she asked, him, setting her bag in the corner with all the others.

"Now," he muttered, dropping down onto the floor and patting a seat beside him, "we wait."

With a sigh, she plopped down beside him and began inspecting the room. Two guards were stationed at the door, dressed in complete black – but rather than helmets, they had hoods that masked their faces from sight.

Twenty minutes passed and Kai made a move to get up, looking slightly agitated.

"No," Lien muttered, "patience. Wait."

Soon enough, another young-looking recruit stood up and stalked over to the guards, a frown on his face.

"Watch, and be ready," she whispered to Kai, nodding to the impatient man.

"So when're we going to do our challenge-test-whatever it is?" the young man demanded rudely.

The guards grinned at each other, "You see, we only have two positions left in training 'cause you're the last bunch. Consider this your challenge: be the last one standing and you'll be accepted." And the two guards stepped out of the iron doors, which snapped shut behind them.

For a full five seconds the six people in the room eyed each other warily. And then all chaos broke loose.

Lien dived through the legs of an oncoming attacker, swiping his legs from beneath him and punching his face as he fell in the same motion.

Kai extended his hand and she took it, hoisting herself up once more. They stood back to back and fought the other occupants in the room with as much gusto as they could manage. But the two of the three remaining opponents had both focused on Lien with the intent of taking her down, expecting her to be the weak link in their duo.

But she struck out with her foot viciously, and the opposition grabbed it, as was expected, wrenching her off balance. But instead of falling to the ground, she used his grip on her leg as leverage and spun through the air, kicking him in the face with her other foot and sending him to the floor knocked out cold. She didn't wait for the second one to come to her. She ran to the metal wall with as much speed as she could muster in the confined space, aware of him following close behind her.

She stepped up on the rough, rustic wall, her toned legs tensing as she launched herself back the way she'd come in a frontward flip. As she was upside down in the air, she jabbed at a spot on her opponent's neck. He fell to the floor before she landed from her flip.

She turned to see Kai as he punched the last competition into obliviousness. They grinned and high-fived – they were the last two standing. A door suddenly appeared in the rock wall – the work of earth benders – and a man around their age, perhaps a little older, stepped in. He had a scar on the left side of his face.

They both immediately straightened at the sight of their Fire Lord and bowed low. "You are both worthy warriors," the young Fire Lord said, not making any indication as to the extent of his approval. "Names?"

"Kai of Central City, my lord."

"Lien-Hua of Shu Jing, my lord."

The Fire Lord cocked an eyebrow at hearing of Lien's hometown. "You were trained by master Piandao then?"

"Yes, my lord."

The Fire Lord seemed to nod in approval before turning and striding out of the room. Exchanging confused glances, the pair followed their Fire Lord hurriedly, not wanting to be left behind in the room full of unconscious hopefuls. They were both nervous as injured, moaning men were carted in the opposite direction to where they were going. It must be the challenge.

They soon reached a large training field at which the tweens openly gaped at. It was a huge obstacle course.

The Fire Lord turned to them, "You are the last two to go through. Each of you will be attacked by a fire bender from the sidelines. On your mark, set, _go!_"

The two didn't spare each other well wishes as they sprinted to the high climbing net. Lien scuttled up it like a little spider, surprised when the first blast of fire missed her by hairs at the top. She leapt into the pit below, spraying sand as she went. She was over the first hurdle before the tiny grains had touched the floor. And then the fire came relentlessly.

She swerved on every hurdle, only narrowly evading serious injury. She couldn't see the bender, for he or she was behind her somewhere, but it didn't matter with her rabbit-like fleeing skills. She dropped onto her finger tips and the tips of her toes and darted under the net, still swerving and rolling out of the way of the searing fire. As she was standing up, once just barely caught the hem of her shirt, but she yelped and tore the bottom half off, throwing all previous modesty to the wind as she continued running, flipping her firebender the finger as she went.

She reached the pit full of coals with a sparse amount of rocks strewn about in a disorderly fashion. She leapt across them without as second thought, flipping the finger once more when a fireball crashed into the coal beside her, spraying the hot debris onto her fair skin, leaving miniature burns and cuts.

Next was a fence. She darted up the rungs with ease, sliding across the top and dropping to the bottom, running before she hit the ground. Next were the beams. She vaguely wondered if the metal of the beam was hot from the fire, but didn't wait to find out as she flew across it without hesitation.

With a start she realised the course was originally made for buff, unbalanced men. She allowed herself a brief moment of joy before her mouth hardened into a line. She sped up even further as she reached the steep ramp. With a few powerful lunges, she reached the top and dove off it, rolling at the bottom before rising into a run.

Then came the over-under hurdles. She rolled over the top of one, dropped to the ground, and rolled under the next before leaping up and repeating the process several times over. She then reached the monkey bars. She leapt at them and grasped the first rung, hissing at the metal, hot from being over the coals all day. She swung herself up and stood on top before she ran at full pelt over the narrow metal stretch.

When she reached the end of the bars, she dropped so she could hold the bars and swung herself neatly to the other side of the ditch that was the next obstacle. She teetered on the edge for a few perilous seconds before advancing forward again. She scaled the ladder, relishing in the brief absence of the fire, but she didn't stop despite knowing they'd return momentarily.

Just as she was wondering where the firebender went, she saw Kai starting on the monkey bars. Nodding to herself, she ran to the side and faced the way she came, to the two hundred metre sprint ahead of her. In the distance she saw her firebender at the finish line, waiting for her to make her first move. She started running straight away.

She dodged and feigned dodges, ducking and swerving and diving out of the way of the incoming blasts of fire. She was about half way across the stretch when she heard a pained cry from behind her.

She looked to see Kai stumble and fall, a large red welt appearing on his shoulder and partway down his arm. Without a second thought, she spun on her heel and bounded back the way she came, ignoring the blasts of fire at her heels. "C'mon, Kai! You can do this! We can do this!" she shouted, tugging him forward.

He stumbled up and let himself be dragged along the path at a speed he could have never attained on his own. Lien now had two fire benders focused on her. She was doing fairly well until Kai's bender fired one directly at the pair. Lien tugged him out of the way, but her eyes widened in astonishment when she noticed her the fire benders had been collaborating. The jet of fire streaking towards them could not be swerved.

So Lien spun herself back into Kai, sending them tumbling to the floor. The fire was close enough to singe the tips of her light brown hair. With a growl she shot up, still tugging Kai, and sprinted the last stretch.

Kai collapsed into a heap on the line. Lien was doubled over with her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. Adrenaline was still pumping fiercely through her veins, so when a foreign hand touched her arm, she almost lashed out. She managed to supress her immediate instinct, however, and looked up to the face – the _very_ familiar face.

"Shang!" Lien cried, flinging her arms around her old family friend.

"Lien!" he laughed, spinning her around.

"You were my fire bender? Ha, thank god it wasn't some poshy official who'd give me a hard time for flipping him the bird!" she laughed as he set her down.

"Uh… no… _he_ was your fire bender…" her friend said, slightly stiff as he nodded to someone behind her.

Lien's stomach dropped as she turned. The _Fire Lord_ was standing there. And her stomach was completely bare. Oh well, there wasn't much she could do about it. "Whoops!" was all she could manage, sending Kai, who was pushing himself to his feet, into a fit of hysterical laughter.

The Fire Lord's lip twitched up into the smallest of smiles, "Yes. Well done, indeed. You two have the fastest times out of all recruits today."

Kai and Lien exchanged smirks.

"But I apologise, soldier," he said, nodding towards Lien, "you will have to share barracks with the other males in the complex… there generally isn't one in this training sector for women."

"Oh, never mind," Lien shrugged, "I wasn't expecting there to be anyway."

The Fire Lord nodded and made to walk away, but turned back around last second, "Be ready and eating breakfast five minutes after the morning bell rings, or you're automatically out of the system."

_**A/N: Read and Review please! **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

The loud chime of the bell was immediately followed by the groans and annoyed growls of the one hundred and ten personal-guards-in-training unit. But each of them had fought long and hard to gain their position, and so they all rose and dressed in their plain black clothes before filing into the dining hall to begin their fourth week of training. They ate their food in a sleepy haze, no one really tasting anything. Exactly ten minutes later they were starting their first lap of the entire army barracks in the dark. By the time they were finished with their second, the sun began to rise.

Towards the middle ran Lien and Kai with their two roommates (from Bunker 10), Gaul and Mikoyo – in other words, Gary and Mick. They jogged at a moderate pace, making funny faces and awkward sounds to one another for entertainment on their hour and a half long warm-up.

After that they went to the training field, where the nightmarish obstacle course had been moved long ago, and the fine dirt restored to the hard packed earth. Bunker 10 was stationed at hand to hand combat – Lien's speciality.

Lien and Kai automatically paired up, smirking deviously as they circled at each other. She made the first strike, only to be flipped over Kai's broad back. She used the position to her advantage, pulling on his arm until he cried out in pain and kicked back, sending her reeling to the floor. She kicked out and tripped him, and for ten good minutes they rolled around in the dirt, beating each other up, laughing loudly as they went.

Next was archery, which Kai, Lien and Mick were all fairly good at, but it was where Gary excelled, he hit the bullseye every time from five hundred paces. It was spear throwing and hunting where Mick was an expert.

Kai was fairly balanced at everything, but was particularly good with a long sword, while Lien much preferred daggers and long knives. By lunch they'd circuited through every station once. After lunch they would get paired up with others according to their abilities, and they'd spar until dinner. If they were lucky they'd get off training early and were allowed a night out in the town.

They all scoffed down their lunch and filed out to see who they'd be paired with.

"Kai!" called the lieutenant, "You're with Chomp over there!"

"See ya round, Lien!" he called as he ran to begin his spar.

"Lien, you're with Grumpy over there," the lieutenant muttered, winking at her as he nodded to the tall, silently powerful trainee called Haoku.

"Oh, and I want to see some sword work from you today! You better not lose, the Fire Lord and his advisors are sitting up on the dais to watch you all today."

Lien grinned, "Have I ever lost, lieutenant?" she laughed, nudging him jokingly as she walked past the older man on her way to Haoku.

She smiled as she drew her sword, she hadn't bothered picking one up since she'd come to Central City – she didn't see the point after she'd mastered it so long ago… plus, she enjoyed her daggers and knives much more.

Alas, she faced Haoku and waited for him to make his move. He struck out slyly, crouched like a panther. Lien merely kicked the hilt of his sword as it neared her, propelling the blade out of Haoku's hands. She placed the tip of her blade at his neck as he fumbled to catch his weapon.

"Lien! We want to see some _real_ fighting!" Kai shouted from where he was having a break with his partner.

Lien laughed and rolled her eyes, turning to walk back to her original position. Only the slight _whoosh_ of a blade cutting through the air indicated the attack on her turned back. She spun and parried with a force that almost tore Haoku's sword from his hands. She narrowed her eyes, how _dare_ he pull a blade on her turned back? She would show him.

And then she struck. If he was like a panther, then she was like a deadly snake, jabbing and swiping, ducking and jumping all in a blur. He stood no chance as he fought completely on the offensive, merely trying not to lose any limbs as he backed away. Many groups had stopped to watch the witty tween and the broodingly dangerous man fighting. Lien, aware of the attention they were drawing, decided that she'd end it before causing Haoku too much embarrassment.

She spun side on and carefully watched as he swung his sword to her middle. At the precise moment, she stepped up on the broad blade and launched herself into the air, flipping. She almost felt as though time had slowed as she was upside down above Haoku. With one hand already on the hilt of her sword, she cautiously held the other end and encircled the deadly loop around Haoku's neck as she descended to land on her feet. The end result was Lien behind him with her blade at his throat, Haoku forced to bend back to accommodate for the height difference between them.

There was a large round of applause from the recruits, even a few cheers from Lien's dorm mates.

That night there was a bonfire – well, several bonfires. Bunkers nine, ten and eleven were all around a large fire, placed in an area of forest that was used for mission drills and camp-outs. They were all talking and laughing merrily when another presence joined them. It was the Fire Lord, dressed in causal garb – something none of the soldiers had seen before. But they didn't tone down their rambunctiousness just for their ruler.

No, they only quietened when the topic of the best swords master in the world came up.

"Personally, I think it's that Sokka fellow – the Water Tribe warrior!" one man piped up.

"No, no, no – it's definitely our Fire Lord, not trying to be a crawler though!"

"No! You're all wrong!" Kai almost shouted, "It's Master Piandao who's the best!"

There were finally murmurs of agreement around the bonfire.

"I've _met_ Master Piandao!" someone boasted boisterously.

The Fire Lord sat up straighter, seeming very smug, "I've _trained_ under him."

There were slight gasps of amazement from the men, but Kai piped up and looked to Lien, "But you lived in the same town as him, didn't you Lien! And you trained under him too!"

Lien shrugged, supressing a yawn, "Yeah, I guess…" she muttered.

"But how did you gain the privilege of being taught by him?" another man asked in awe.

"He's my father… so it was really part of the deal for me…"

Silence.

"F-father? _Father?"_ Kai shouted, leaping to his feet, "_Why_ didn't you tell us?" he yelled loudly.

Lien shrugged once more, "You never asked."

"But – but you wouldn't have had to gone through all this training to get into the program! You could have done the final test straight away!" Kai almost whined.

Lien chuckled, "Exactly. I just want to prove that I can get through this without the help of my father. I wanted to show everyone I can do this on my own."

"I know what you mean," the Fire Lord spoke up, looking to her from where he sat across the fire.

Lien grinned, "You would, my lord-"

"Zuko. My name is Zuko," the Fire Lord interrupted.

They sat in silence for a few more moments before a bell rang, signalling ten o'clock.

Lien stood, "I don't know about you lot, but I'm off to bed- argh!" Kai had leapt up and tackled her in a tight hug, lifting her off the ground.

"Nighty-night Ling-Ling," he sang in a high, sickly sweet voice.

"Eugh, anymore cheesiness and I think I might just die," Lien grumbled as she was set on her feet.

She nodded to the guys from the other bunkers, huffing as Mick ruffled her hair on her way out.

She made her way back in the cover of the darkness, thankful that no one had mentioned the announcement of the soldiers elected for the personal guard – she was already nervous enough as it was. She showered and changed before dropping on to her bed and falling asleep – she never really had any problem with sleep deprivation, even when she was stressed or troubled.

The morning dawned bright and early, and the soldiers continued their day normally until just after lunch, when the Lieutenant stood on the dais and began speaking in a loud, coarse voice.

"The soldiers selected for the personal guard are as follows!" the Lieutenant proceeded to call out the names of seventeen guards before he got to the last three. "Gaul! Haoku! And finally, Hoa!"

Kai, Lien and Mick exchanged disappointed looks.

"Now, now!" the Lieutenant called over the murmurs of the disappointed soldiers, "I need everyone to assemble in your area of speciality! Yes, yes, spears and archery over down there! Hand-to-hand on the left! Swords to the right! And… those of you who throw around little sharp things, you go down the back there, yes. Now start training, you won't be in the personal guard, but you'll be the first reserves!"

Lien strode over to hand-to-hand combat and grudgingly began to spar with a random soldier, silently seething at herself for not making it in.

…

Zuko smirked as he saw all the soldiers giving the lieutenant angry glares. "They don't know?" he murmured to one of his advisers, who shook his head.

"How do we decide them, sir?" the adviser asked, genuinely curious.

"We need to see how they deal with sudden… _stressful_ situations," Zuko replied, wondering just how the soldiers were to be chosen.

They went around picking out selected handful of soldiers, directing them to a room inside the complex. When the time came for their last choice, the adviser turned to Zuko, "And the last one, my lord?"

The lieutenant grinned, "Easy – here," and he threw a bomb into the training field full of non-benders. "Run for cover – it's a bomb!" he bellowed.

…

It rolled only twenty paces from where she stood – right in front of the surprised Fire Lord. As everyone threw themselves to the ground, she sprinted to the explosive and threw herself on top of it, curling around it for her body to take the brunt of the explosion.

But after a good ten seconds, nothing happened. Everything was silent.

Lien cracked an eye open, utterly surprised to find she was still alive. She sat up wearily, letting out a long breath she'd been holding as she looked up to Zuko, the lieutenant and the few officials. "It was a fake?" she asked, slightly outraged.

"Yes," the lieutenant smirked, "Come with me."

Lien raised a brow, but didn't question the small party as they led her through the training building. They began descending a narrow spiral staircase, down, down, down for so long that Lien felt the world would never stop spinning.

They finally reached a dungeon-like cellar, and Lien almost jumped for joy when she spotted Kai and Mick already there amongst five others, sitting in a semi-circle formation. She sat on a chair at the end as Zuko began to speak.

"You soldiers were not chosen for the personal guard," began Zuko, "because your skills exceed those of the chosen soldiers, and it would be a grave waste of talent to place you with the royal family when we face little to no threat at all in times like these."

The members of the group exchanged curious glances before focusing their attention on Zuko once more.

"You will be in a different unit. A unit for special missions, missions that I may or may not accompany you on, but missions of great importance, nevertheless."

"My lord? What _is_ this unit?" a man called Han asked sceptically.

"This unit," Zuko said, smirking slightly, "is the _Undesirables_."

_**A/N: Read and Review please! **_


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